China’s spy chief warns of national security risks from AI

China's Minister of State Security, Chen Yixin, has cautioned that artificial intelligence (AI) poses a significant threat to the nation's national security. Foreign entities are allegedly leveraging generative AI technologies to disseminate political misinformation and engage in public opinion warfare against China, thereby jeopardizing the country's political, institutional, and ideological security, according to Chen's remarks published online on September 13, 2026.

The warning arrives as Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, with talks expected to include AI governance and safety concerns due to growing calls for stricter oversight of the technology. U.S. tech leaders, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have also expressed apprehension over the rapid progress of AI, warning of the potential risks associated with unchecked development.

Chen emphasized that AI has emerged as the primary arena for global technological rivalry and a new dimension of strategic competition among major powers. However, he refrained from addressing existential risks or advocating for a halt in technological advancements. Instead, he highlighted the advanced hacking capabilities of AI tools such as Anthropic's Claude Mythos and OpenAI's ChatGPT-5.5-Cyber, which could pose serious threats to China's critical information infrastructure.

The U.S.-Iran conflict has underscored AI's strategic importance in military applications, granting technological superiority an edge on the battlefield. In response, China must ensure independent control over key core technologies, particularly advanced computer chips essential for AI model training, to safeguard its technology sovereignty, Chen concluded.